James MacGregor Burns Quotes

I really like Kansas City Royals stadium - Kauffman Stadium.

Every great story seems to begin with a snake.

… the commonest little dog I have ever seen, without one sign of distinction

Her beauty was not in itself quite incomparable, we are told...but conversation with her had an irresistible charm. Her presence, combined with the persuasiveness of her discourse and the character which was somehow diffused about her behavior towards others, had something stimulating about it …. she could readily turn to whatever language she pleased, so that in her interviews with barbarians she seldom had need of an interpreter, but mostly made her replies unaided, whether the men were Ethiopians, Hebrews, Arabians, Syrians, Medes, or Persians.

I think Canada has a great story, and I'm glad to tell it. And if there's a moment where the world is paying a little more attention to Canada, well, I think it's important to try and capitalize on that.

I loved the taste and smell of Chicago hot dogs.

President Clinton is one of the dominant figures on the global stage. He has lived an extraordinary life, and he has a great story to tell.

It wasn't necessary to win for the story to be great, it was only necessary to sacrifice everything.

My advice to any diplomat who wants to have good press is to have two or three kids and a dog.

They say hot dogs can kill you. How do you know it's not the bun?

My notion of a great novel is something like a five-hundred-page shaggy-dog story, with only the punch line omitted.

She was such a beautiful and sweet creature... and so full of tricks.

After you hear even the shortest great story, it should fill you with a little bit of fear.

Humans will always tell you the story. Dogs can only tell you the truth. Trust your instincts and listen your dog.

I'm on a diet. It's very strict: all hot dogs. Just sausages, constantly. It's working out - I've gained fifteen pounds!

People want to join a great story. If you want to lead, tell one with your life.

If in fact, the US story is correct, if it is true that Syria used chemical weapons, then it wouldn't be a major crime to send a kind of shot across the bow saying you can't do this anymore. Not the best thing in the world, but not a major crime, either. So, I think at the very least there should have been an inquiry into what happened. But just joining the bandwagon about how we're finally standing up to crimes in Syria, that's ridiculous.

It's a very remarkable story." "Remarkable's a well-chosen word. It doesn't give you away.

If somebody tells you an obviously untrue story, on the Continent you would remark, "You are a liar, Sir, and a rather dirty one at that." In England you just say "Oh, is that so?" Or "That's rather an unusual story, isn't it?

Every great story deserves a great ending

I devoured hot-dogs in Baltimore 'way back in 1886, and they were then very far from newfangled...They contained precisely the same rubber, indigestible pseudo-sausages that millions of Americans now eat, and they leaked the same flabby, puerile mustard. Their single point of difference lay in the fact that their covers were honest German Wecke made of wheat-flour baked to crispiness, and not the soggy rolls prevailing today, of ground acorns, plaster-of-Paris, flecks of bath-sponge, and atmospheric air all compact.

You know what I love best about baseball? The pine tar, the resin, the grass, the dirt - and that's just in the hot-dogs.

Every Super Bowl, I do different food each quarter from each of the hometowns of the teams competing. So I’m always hoping for cities with a gastronomic soul—not so much Indianapolis or Denver, right? For halftime we have New York hot dogs from Papaya Dog. And at the end of the game I’ve chosen a dessert based on who I think is going to win.

I am in flight from my story every day, and it dogs me like a faithful stray.